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Land charges

We will register various notices received from departments of the council for all properties and land within the city boundary. These typically relate to conditional planning permissions, enforcement notices, tree preservation orders, conservation areas, smoke control orders, other notices, orders, financial matters and agreements.

Each year we deal with thousands of search enquiries – investigate whether there are any legal restrictions or development proposals affecting a particular property/piece of land, of which a prospective purchaser should be aware.

These enquiries are mostly from solicitors acting on behalf of buyers.

Frequently asked questions

Q. How long does a search take?
A. The average response time for all search requests by us is three days. We achieved 99.4% of our standard search enquiries being returned within three working days and 100% completed within 5 working days.

Q. What are the search fees?
A. From 1 April 2008 the following charges will apply:

• Composite Fee – LLC1 AND CON29
  £50 for a standard search
• Optional Questions
  £12 NB If optional questions are submitted without the required enquiries, there will be a £7.88 administration charge
• Additional Question
  £15
• Each additional parcel of land add
  £12 each (such as a shop with separate living accommodation)
• LLC1 – search of the Land Charges’ Register only
  £16

Q. Are you connected to NLIS?
A. Yes – Level 3. This enables us to receive and return searches totally electronically without the need for paperwork or cheques.

Q. Do I need a plan?
A. You will need two copies.

Q. Can I make my own inspection of the Land Charges Register?
A. Yes, it may be inspected personally. It is helpful to let us know in advance, please telephone for an appointment on 023 9283 4063/65 between the hours of 9.30am and 5pm.

Q. Can I visit other departments within the council?
A. You may look at statutory registers during normal office hours. It may be advisable to check with the relevant departments beforehand as they may operate an appointment system.

Q. Do you answer the drainage enquiries?
A. No, these are dealt with by Southern Water and you can write to them at Southern House, Capstone Road, Chatham, Kent, ME5 7QA. You can call them on 01634 824100 and there is a link to their website under "External links".

Q. Who deals with ownership of land/boundaries?
A. This is dealt with by Portsmouth District Land Registry and you can write to them at St Andrews Court, St. Michael’s Road, Portsmouth, PO1 2JH. Their telephone number is 023 9276 8888.

Q. Can you fax an urgent reply?
A. Yes, for urgent searches the results can be faxed ahead of the hard copy. A charge of £10 is made for this facility.

Q. Can you collect an urgent search reply?
A. Yes, by arrangement. Please telephone the Land Charges Section on 023 9283 4063/65 to check the progress of the search.

Q. How do I obtain copies of documents?
A. If a copy of a recently completed Local Authority Search is required, a fee of £10 is payable. A copy is only available to the original applicant. Please telephone the Land Charges Sectio on 023 9283 4063/65.

If you require a copy of a document revealed in a search reply please apply directly to the inspection address given.

Q. Do you deal with the Commons Registration Search?
A. Yes, we deal with these as an optional question on the CON290.

Useful contacts

Engineering & Design Service
Building Control Section
Civic Offices
Guildhall Square
Portsmouth PO1 2QJ
TEL: 023 9283 4722/4606

Engineering & Design Service
Transport & Road Safety
Civic Offices
Guildhall Square
Portsmouth PO1 2QJ
TEL: 023 9283 4590/1333

Environment & Public Protection
Customer Services
Civic Offices
Guildhall Square
Portsmouth PO1 2QJ
TEL: 023 9284 1452/1683/1583

Planning Service
Civic Offices
Guildhall Square
Portsmouth PO1 2QJ
TEL: 023 9268 8028/29

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